Remote-control means for controlling operation of steam turbines driving sugar mills



M. D. CHURCH MEA April 13, 1954 2,674,854 Ns FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION AR MILLS REMOTE-CONTROL OF STEAM TURBINES DRIVING SUG 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1952 MAYNARD D.CHURCH INVENTOR.

P" 13, 1954 M. 0. CHURCH $674,854

REMOTE-CONTROL MEANS FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION 0F STEAM TURBINEIS DRIVING SUGAR MILLS Flled Jan 8, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

FIG.2

April 13, 1954 M. D. CHURCH CONTROL NS F 2,674,854 REMOTE' MEA 0R CONTROLLING OPERATION OF STEAM TURBINES DRIVING SUGAR MILLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 8, 1952 MAYNARD acHuRcr-i INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 13, 1954 REMOTE-CONTROL LING OPERATION Maynard D. church,

MEANS FOR CONTROL- OF STEAM- TURBINES DRIVING SUGAR MILLS V Wcllsville, N. Y., assignor to Worthington Corporation; a corporation of Delaware" Application January 8, 1952, Serial No. 265495 6 Claims; (01. 60-102) This invention relates to steam turbines for driving sugar mills and more particularlyto'cases wherein several-sections or sets of' rolls .in'the tandem are individually driven by steamturbines.

An obj ectof the present 'inventionis to provide means whereby any. one or all of the steamturbines may be stoppedfa'nd restarted; or their speed of 7 operation varied individually or collectively from a central control station Without assistance of 'an operatingwengineer at the turbine.

In practice, theseveral'mills'or sections in a sugar mm tandem: normauy run at difi'erent speeds, the speed's'giadiially increasing fromthe entering tothe leaving end of'the tandem. When the speed'of each turbine has been adjusted to drive its sectionofr the'tand'em at the desired speed, it isadvantageioiisto be able to increase or decrease the speed "of "all the sections simultaneously and approximately proportion, and the present invention embodies" means for so doing. By thism'eans; the amount of sugar cane being processed may be adj ustedto suit conditions. The stop and restart provision also'aids in convenient and efiici'ent mill operation; If'for'exainpl the cane carrier or any other part'ofthe iniII eqHipment requires repair or adjustment, the-turbine operating engineer may g6 immediately to the point where he can assist in such 'wdrk,'1eaving it toth'e sugar mill operator to stop the turbines and to quickly 'restart thein'when repairs have been completed. This results in a rduction'of the time the mill is out of production for repairs;

In the present invention novel modifications have been" introduced intdth turbine governor control to accomplish the above refer-red to'desirable operations by 'remote comer" With these and other objects in-view, as may appear from the'acooinpanying specification, the invention consists of various features ofconstructron and combination of parts, which will be first described in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing remote control means for controlling operation of steamturbines driving-sugar 'mills embodying a preferredform of the invention, and the features-forming the invention will be specifically pointed out in the claims.

In-the drawings: v Figure l "of the drawings is aplanview showing a sugar'millembodying one form of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary viewin sectionshowing a turbine'governor together with onepart -of 1 the control; mechanism associated therewith.

Figures isa iragmentaryiview in section-show:-

mg the turbine governor together with another part ofthe control mechanism associated'therewith;

Figure 4 is a detail view partly in section and partly in elevation illustrating one form of mechanism for operating the speed control valve of a turbine governor.

In sugar mills, it is the general practice to embody'a plurality of sections or sets of rolls. usually from "5' to 7, eachof which is usually driven at a difierent'speed; the speeds of the rolls of the sections normally increasing progressively from the entrance to the'le'avinge'nd of the mill.

Figure l of the drawings shows such a mill in plan but only four sections are illustrated for convenien'ce' of illustration, it being understood that the'invention is applicable to sugar mmsemboaying the any number of sections'in tandem.

In Figure 1 of the drawings the sugar mill comprises the various sections I 2, 3; and 4; each comprising a plurality of rolls 5, into which sections sugar cane is fed inth'e usual manner through a cane chute illustrated at 6. I

Each of the sections I; 2, 3; and Ms driven independently of any of the other sections by means of steam turbines shown at'l through a series of speed reducing gears shown at 8. Each of the'turbine units T'is similar, any approved type of steam turbine being employed and the speed of each of which is controlled by a' governor mechanism illustrated in Figure'z of the drawings.

The governor mechanism for governing the speed of operation of the turbine is similar in principle to variable speed oil relay turbine governors for general application with the exception of certain control features which will be described.

Oil pump 35 is driven from the turbine shaft and pumps'a quantity of 'oil' proportional to the turbine speed. This oil is pumped through p'ipe 36 and through turbine speed-control valve 40 which may be opened or closed more or lessto actas an adjustable orifice; From thespeed control valve 40 the 'oil returns to oil-tank I! through pipe 3?. Between pump-35 and valve the pipe is operatively'connected to bellows housing 26 where itspressure is imposed ona spring loaded bellows 29.-

For any given opening of valve "40 thereisa turbine speed at which the oil pressure existing in pipe 36 and bellows housing 26 isadequate to begin to compress bellows 29-against theresistance'of a spring 28; Further slight increase-of turbine speed will increase. oil pressure' and compress the bellows 29 further and cause rod 30 to move downward through a greater amplitude. Reduction of speed will cause a corresponding upward movement of rod 36 under action of the spring 28. This movement of rod 3c in response to speed change is used to control the amount of steam admitted to the turbine and thereby govern the running speed of the turbine.

Governor valve it which controls the amount of steam admitted to the turbine is moved by a servomotor consisting primarily of oil cylinder I l and piston is, the piston being mechanically connected to governor valve lil.

Oil under pressure to act as motive fluid in the servomotor is pumped from oil tank I! by oil pump 29 which is driven from the turbine shaft. The pressure of the oil is regulated by relief valve 20 which discharges any excess oil into pipe 2! which distributes it to the lubricating system, from which it returns to the tank 11.

Bellows 29 and rod 30 and the stem connecting piston i5 and governor valve it are operatively connected to relay valve 33 through floating lever 12 and auxiliary levers i2 and it in a manner commonly used in oil relay governor mechanisms.

Oil from oil pump 28 is led by pipe 22 to the center port of relay valve 33. When speed increases the downward movement of rod 38, acting through lever [2' which is pivoted at 34, causes an upward movement of the relay valve 33, thereby releasing oil from above the piston i5 and admitting oil under the piston and causing the valve H} to move towards a closed position. The movement of stem H, acting through float- .ing lever l2, will restore the relay valve 33 to a central position and thereby stop the governor valve H) when its travel is proportional to the movement or bellows 29. On a reduction of speed the same action takes place in reverse.

The function of relief valve 38 is to prevent the pressure in pipe 36 from ever becoming great enough to damage bellows 29.

The speed control valve 40 is used to adjust the speed setting of the turbine governor. It is obvious that if this valve is opened wider, a

higher speed of pump 35 and therefore of the turbine will be required to build up the pressure in the bellows housing 28 required to actuate the bellows 29 against the pressure of spring 28.

Likewise reducing the opening of valve 40 will cause the turbine to run at a lower speed.

The above described mechanism is a usual form of governor-mechanism for steam turbines and in such usual form of governor mechanisms the speed control valve 40 is manually operated, requiring a turbine engineer or operator at the turbine to vary the setting of the speed control valve and thereby vary the speed of operation of the turbine when necessary. With a number of turbines employed for individually driving the sections of the tandem of a sugar mill it would require a turbine operator acting under the instructions of the sugar mill operator to move from one turbine to another to adjust their speed, requiring considerable time and depending upon the skill and judgment of the turbine operator in adjusting the various speed control valves to give the proper proportionate speeds of operation of the various turbines to meet changing conditions.

The present invention embodies means whereby a single operator from a remote control station may stop or start any or all or the turbines and can adjust thespeed of any turbine or of all of the turbines together and proportionately.

In Figures 1 and 2 or the drawings, this is provided through the medium of electrical means controlled by switches and other devices which are preferably located in a switch panel positioned at any convenient location so that they may all be operated by a single operator.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings a selfsynchronous motor 58 which we will call a Selsyn motor has its shaft 5! connected by a suitable coupling 52 to the stem 53 of the valve element 4 l. The valve element M has a threaded extension 4 1 thereon which is threadably connected with the housing of the speed control valve structure ll! so that when the stem 53 is rotated the valve element M will be moved towards or from its seat depending upon the direction of rotation of the valve stem.

As shown in Figure l of the drawings, all of the Selsyn motors 5B and Selsyn transmitter 56 are connected to a power line indicated at E4 and Selsyn motors iii! are connected through the electrical control wiring 55 with the transmitter Selsyn 55. The rotor of the Selsyn transmitter 56 is manually rotated through the medium of a hand crank El, and as is well known in the operation of Selsyn transmitter and receiver systems all of the receiver Selsyns 5i! connected in the circuit with the Selsyn transmitter 55 will automatically assume the same angular position of their rotors about their axes as that of the transmitter Selsyn. Thus by manually positioning the rotor of the transmitter Selsyn 5% the rotors of all of the Selsyn" receivers 58 will automatically move into the same positions and in so doing will rotate their shafts 5i and thereby operate the speed control valves 18 accordingly, Thus by turning'the rotor of the transmitter @Selsyn 56, the speed setting of all the turbine governors can be adjusted simultaneously and proportionately.

For the purpose of permitting individual control of the Selsyn receivers 50 and, consequently, individual speed control "of the turbines l, a switch as indicated at 58 is connected in two of the three wires forming the connection between each or the Selsyn receivers 58 and the electrical power transmittingconnection 55, thus by opening or closing the switches 59 the operator may cut any one of the Selsyn receivers 53 into or out of the circuit including the Selsyn transmitter 56 thereby permitting control of any one of the turbines i by its own Selsyn motor independently of any of the other turbines in the mill.

Figure 4 shows an arrangement whereby reduction gearing 96 is interposed between the Selsyn motor 50 and the threaded valve stem 53, thereby making finer'control possible.

The stop and start control mechanism is illustrated in Figure 3 which shows many of the same elements as Figure 2- but with additions and modifications necessary to permit the turbine to be stopped and started from a remote point. The speed control mechanism and the stop and start control mechanism are shown separately for simplicity. In practice they are used together.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 3 of the drawings the valve 60 which controls delivery of the steam to the turbine is the same as the valve [0 and its stem 6| is connected to a piston 62 in the cylinder 63. A relay valve structure 65 which is the same as the relay valve structure l8 controls admission of oil under attests pressure to either end of oil cylinder' 63 and'also drainage of oil-from either end. Thiscontrol is thesame as the control shown in Figure 2 and the spring loaded 'Syl'phon structure 61 which is operated by pressure of oil from the governor oil pump 16 is also the same. The speed controlyalve-Ee, however, is shown manually operated and the setting of the valve of the relay valve assembly 55 may be controlled in an additio'nal manner than as shown in Figure 2. of the drawings. In this form of the invention the: lever 90 is connected to Sylphon stem 1| by a slip joint 9! and is extended beyond its connection withthe stem Not the spring loaded S-ylphon structure 61 and has a slip joint connection 12 with an electrically operated solenoid 13. To stop the turbine, th solenoid 13 is energized at which time it pulls down on the extensionof the lever 90 associated with the governor. The downward movement of the lever 90 raisesithe valve 16 of'the relay valve assembly SE-thereby releasing oil from above oil pistol-1 62 and admitting oil under pressure to the underside of the same piston, moving the oil piston 62 upwa'rdly and closing the valve-'60 to shut on the delivery of the steam to the turbine. When the turbine has stopped, the oil pump 14 which is driven from the turbine shaft (not shown) will also stop and delivery of oil to the cylinder 63 will consequently be stopped. However,. the spring 15 will keep the piston 62 in its upper position and hold the valve 66 closed even if the solenoid 13 should be de-energized. To restart the turbine, the solenoid i3 is first de-energized returning control of the relay valve 65 to the spring loaded Sylphon structure 61. As the speed of operation of the turbine is zero at such time therewill be no oil pressure on the Sylpho-n 11 since pump 16 will not be running. Since there is no oil pressure on the Sylphon 11 of the spring loaded Sylphon structure 61 th governor lever will lower the valve 10 of the relay valve assembly 65 to a position where it will direct oil pressure when available into the cylinder 63 above the piston 62. At this time an auxiliary oil pump 18 will be started through the manual manipulation of a switch 19 by moving the control switch into the run position. The pump 18 is driven by an electric motor 80. When the auxiliary oil pump 18 is started it will deliver oil under pressure through the pip line BI and relay valve 65 into the cylinder 63 above the piston 62 and move the piston downwardy to open the valve 60 and admit steam tothe turbine for starting it. As the turbine comes up to speed it will, by operation of the oil pump 14, deliver oil from the tank 66 into the same sy tem as pump 18. When the pressure of oil reaches a predetermined point it will through any suitable pressure actuated mechanism 83 actuate an electrical switch 82 interposed in the electrical connection between the electric current supply line and the motor 80. The pressure operated mechanism 83 employed to operate the switch 82 may be of any approved pressur operated type as may be purchased on the open market. When the switch 82 is open and the motor 80 stopp d the governor mechanism will continue to operate in its normal manner. Should the oil pressure provided by the pump 14 stop for any cause, the drop in the pressure will cause closing of the switch 82 and the automatic starting of the auxiliary oil pump 18 thus providing oil to the system as long as the control switch 19 remains in the run position. In uti- "6 using this: construction shown in Figure of the drawings, it-is tube-understood, or course, that control switches 19 may be employedfor each of the turbines used ior'driving the sections of the sugar mill and that each of these turbines will be controlled by its control switch 19 all located at a central point.-

It will be understOod that'the invention is not to be limited to the specific construction or arrangement of parts shown, but thatthey may be widelymodified within the inv'ention'defined" by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination; a plurality of steam turbines for individually driving each of the sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means-for eontrolli-ng the speed of-operation of each of said turbin'eaand means remote from and connected to said governor means whereby the speed setting of all of said governor means may be operated unison, valves for controlling-delivery of steam to the turbines-said governor means connected to said valves for operating them, said governor means including pressure operated meansfor operating said valves, relay valves forcontrolling the delivery of pressure fluid to said pressure operated means, speed control valves for control ling-operation of said relayvalves, said remote means including electrically operated-means for providing turbine speed control and turbine stop and start operation of said relay valves;-

2. In combination, a plurality of steam turbines for individually'driving the sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means-for controlling the speed of operation'of each-of said turbines, and means remote fromandconnected to said governor means whereby the-speed setting of all ofsaid governor means-maybe operated in unison, valves for controlling delivery of steam to the turbines, said governor means connected to said valves for operating them, said governor means including pressure operated means for operating the valves, relay valves for controlling delivery of pressure fluid to said pressure operated means, said remote means including electrically operated means for providing turbine stop and start operation of said relay valves, means operated by the turbine for supplying pressure fluid through said relay valves to said pressure operated means, and auxiliary pressure fluid supply means automatically operable upon failure of pressure fluid supply by said turbine operated means for supplying pressure fluid to said pressure operated means.

3. In combination, a plurality of steam turbines for individually driving the sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means for controlling the speed of operation of each of said turbines, and means remote from and connected to said governor means whereby the speed setting of all of said governor means may be operated in unison, valves for controlling delivery of steam to the turbines, said governor means connected to said valves for operating them, said governor means including pressure operated means for operating the valves, relay valves for controlling delivery of pressure fluid to said pressure operated means, said remote means including electrically operated means for providing turbine stop and start operation of said relay valves, said electrically operated means including solenoids, means connecting said solenoids and said relay valves for operating the relay valves upon energizing of the solenoids.

4. In combination, a plurality of steam turbines for individually driving the sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means for controlling operation of each of said turbines, and means remote from and connected to said governor means whereby the speed setting of all of said governor means may be operated in unison, valves for controlling delivery of steam to the turbines, said governor means connected to said valves for operating them, said governor means including pressure operated means for operating the valves, relay valves for controlling delivery of pressure fluid to said pressure operated means, said remote means including electrically operated means for providing turbine stop and start operation of said relay valves, said electrically operated means including solenoids, means connecting said'solenoids and said relay valves for operating the relay valves upon energizing of the solenoids, means operated by the turbine for supplying pressure fluid through said relay valves to said pressure operated means, and auxiliary pressure fluid supply means automatically operable upon failure of pressure fluid supply by said turbine operated means for supplying pressure fluid to said pres sure operated means.

5. In combination, a plurality of steam turbines for driving each of several sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means for controlling the speed of each of said turbines including pressure operated means for varying the turbine speed control settings of the governor valves, turbine speed control valves for controlling operation of said pressure operated means, electrically operated means for adjusting each'of said speed control valves, a manually operated master device for controlling operation of said electrically operated means, all of said electrically operated means connected in one circuit, and switches whereby any one of said electrically operated means may be cut in or out of the circuit independently of the others, and means including electrically operated means whereby any one or all of the turbines may be stopped and restarted from a single control center.

6. In combination, a plurality of steam turbines for driving each of several sections of a sugar mill, individual governor means for controlling the speed of each of said turbines including pressure operated means for varying the turbine speed control settings of the governor means, turbine speed control valves for controlling operation of said pressure operated means, means whereby the setting of each of the turbine speed governors may be adjusted from a common control center including means whereby the speed settings of several or all of the turbine speed control valves may be simultaneously and proportionately adjusted, together with means located at a common control center whereby any turbine may be stopped and restarted independently of any of the other turbines.

References.0ited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 271,616 Edison Feb. 6, 1883 1,095,178 Warren Apr. 28, 1914 1,154,785 Lemp Sept. 28, 1915 1,449,736 Degen Mar. 27, 1923 1,454,505 Christen May 8, 1923 1,670,097 Bowen et al May 15, 1928 1,937,349 Kieser Nov. 28, 1933 2,277,487 Guilhauman Mar. 24, 1942 2,370,149 Couch Feb. 27, 1945 2,466,908 Perrill Apr. 12, 1949 

